'Shame on you!’ Ukrainian president booed by protesters on Maidan (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko speaks with Kiev residents after the ceremony of laying flowers to the Celestial Hundred Heroes Cross on the anniversary of the beginning of Maidan protests. (RIA Novosti / Michail Polinchak) / RIA Novosti

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko was heckled by protesters as he tried to pay tribute to the victims of the last year’s Euromaidan riots in Kiev, which saw around 100 dead and led to a regime change in the country.

“Shame on you!", “Who are your heroes, Poroshenko?” and
“Down with Poroshenko!” people shouted as the president
lit a candle at the memorial at Institutskaya Street in central
Kiev.

Around 50 people were killed on Institutskaya Street during
clashes between the police and protesters, in which firearms were
widely used, with the rest of the victims dying at the nearby
Independence Square or Maidan.

The relatives of the dead, known as the "Heaven's
Hundred," slammed Poroshenko for failing to keep to his
promise to grant the title of national hero to those who died
during the Maidan riots.

"You promise that our relatives, who gave their lives for the
country, are heroes. Say it to the people! Say it louder!"
one of the protesters demanded from the president.

Poroshenko said that he would sign a decree to bring significant
financial benefits to the families of the Maidan dead on Friday.

He added: “If shouting like this continues, everything we did
on the Maidan will have been in vain.”

Relatives were also outraged by the inability of the authorities
to bring to justice those responsible for the fatalities during
pro-European rallies as banners saying: “Poroshenko, where
are the killers?” were on display.

Many Euromaidan victims were gunned down by sniper fire, with the
ongoing official investigation by Kiev blaming a group of elite
soldiers from the Berkut riot police for the killings.

However, there are strong suspicions – backed by a leaked phone
call between the Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet and EU
foreign affairs chief, Catherine Ashton – that the snipers were,
actually, hired by the leaders of the Maidan protests.